A blog with a lot of motorhome modifications, with a sprinkle of stuff about our grandtots and my fiber arts

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Saturday, April 21, 2012

CAMPING - Chalk Hills Campground and doing a few motorhome jobs

Brrrrr we woke up to chilly temps of 27... but we were snuggly warm inside the motorhome of course. We perked up a pot of coffee, and then had some apple turnovers while catching up on the RV Travel newsletter that comes out each Saturday morning. http://www.rvtravel.com It's full of interesting and fun RV stuff, blogs, articles and news about the RV world.

Then Steveio pulled open the local weekend shopper's guide paper that came in the mailbox on Friday before we left home. Lo and behold, there was our ad!

We are appearing all month in two printed papers - one bi-weekly and one daily, 2 sources on the internet, signage on both rural corners plus an info tube in front of the house with flyers. (over a dozen taken out already) We hope the Open Houses the next two weekends bring in some possible lookers. Will see..... word of mouth is the biggest asset to selling a house, and all of our neighbors are told to "help pick their new neighbors" by putting the word out! LOL

After a while we got up and about, and Steveio cooked us a big breakfast too. We took the doggers out for a walkabout and got the day underway. If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you will know we don't often sit still. We had some motorhome projects to do!

Last fall when we winterized the rig, we have to tear out the lazy susan to reach the back of the water heater to do the bypass for blowing out the lines and adding pink antifreeze to the lines for the winter temps. We have to actually dismantle the whole cabinetry housing to get to the back side of the water heater to preform the bypass, so we leave the assorted cabinet pieces setting out all winter long. Today was the day to put it all back together!

Here on the left are the bifold corner cabinet door and the lazy susan tray, and on the right photo you can see how the water heater is wayyyy back in the corner.

Steveio got down on his knees to put things back in, while I handed him the screws, boards and fittings. There... most of the panels are put back together in the pic on the right. Once the lazy susan is back in place, then my baking cake pans, cookie sheets and muffin tins go in along side in the space to the right. Then the canned goods can go on the lazy susan tray. Whew.. feels good to have it all back together again! Soon we won't HAVE to winterize any more... we will be living in the rig all of the time, and living in warmer climates for the winter season for years to come.

Next we did some cleaning and sorting of a few cabinets and closets... planning and figuring out things for future storage areas when we move more of the things from the house out into the rig. I hung some photos and did some gluing repairs to a few things. Steve adjusted the hinge on the fridge and we fixed a few drawer glides. I forgot to pack in window cleaner, because they sure could have used a good wiping down too. Oh well, next week at home is just as good.

Remember back a few weeks ago I had ordered that antenna and booster from Amazon? It works great at our house, but this was the first time to try it out "on the road" Stuck the antenna on the side window, and then set the booster on the desktop computer area in the dash of the motorhome. They need to be at least 6 feet apart. We have power cords for both AC or DC to power up all of our computer thingies.... and the booster too. So while boondocking, we will be just fine and having internet connections from the batteries without having to run an inverter.

See the little green light on the grey booster device? That means it's getting a signal. You set your items nearby the booster, such as our cell phone and our Galaxy Tablet (which is our internet source and router to our laptops) ... and it increases the signal amazingly well! With the booster off, its one bar or nothing... and turn on the booster and it goes up to 3 or 4 bars! Ahhhhhh what a success! $143.00 and well worth it----

(see my little green tags on all our cords? that is to keep straight what cord is for what item!)

The sun was shining and things were warming up nicely. We took a walk around the campground again with the dogs, winding our way around the empty sites. While we were out walking, the owners stopped by our campsite to drop off a bundle of kindling wood and little box of personalized matches. Cute! What wonderful service each time we come here, as they bring us some.

A winding campground road is good to keep down the speeders, but not too tight of curves to impede RV maneuvering into the campsites.

Incidentally, last fall we were in lot number 4, for one of our last camping getaways for the year. Steve had buzzed up some extra firewood with his chainsaw and left it behind for the next camper. Well, nobody must have camped on that site since, because the same firewood is STILL there! LOL

After lunch, we walked down around the campground on the Nature Trail, noticing the deer tracks in the soft spots. The deer probably use this trail to skirt around the edge of the campground to get across and down to the river nearby.

It felt so good to turn my face upwards to the sky... all blue and crisp fresh air. You can smell the dried grasses yet from last year's growth, as the new stuff hasn't started to poke through yet. Rich moss here and there has a pungent scent, along with the pines as the sun is drying them out after the cold frosty night air has gone.

This is a no-frills campground, with only 25 sites near the Menominee River between Wisconsin and Michigan. Great fishing and boat landings nearby to launch your fishing boat if you wish. Close to ATV trails and wonderful hunting areas. Electric at the sites, $15 a night.

It's a "pay on your honor" system, with a little building at the entrance. There is a water faucet there to fill up if you need to, but the faucet is not threaded. You need a "water thief" device to hook a hose onto it to fill an RV tank. (we always carry one along-- it's a rubbery device that slides on a hose bib and lets you screw on a hose) We had filled up at home, but it's good to know it's here if we come camping once we are homeless. heh heh

We came back to our campsite and did a few more little projects. Then I hauled out my sock cranking machine and got a few more orders done. No rest for the wicked sock cranker lady, eh?

Woodticks are out. Steve had one crawling on him, and we will give each other a good going-over tonight with our showers. Tee heeeee

By that time supper was cooking, it was a good long day of just doing a lot of little things. This is going to be what our life will be like on the road, I am sure. Hope we didn't bore you too much!

Supper was grilled chicken breasts, corn on the cob, salads and a bottle of wine...

Karen, you won't be homeless when you go camping--you just won't have to pack a camper since you will be bringing your home along with you. Guess I am lucky, all I have to do is adjust three levers to do the waterheater bypass. It is wonderful that you and Steve both enjoy working on the RV.

Your Wisconsin woods look much the same as our Ontario woods a bunch of miles east of you. Always love that first feeling of a warming Spring sun on the face. And that fresh woodsy smell in the crisp clean air. It's always a special time of year made even better if one is out & about with their camping hat on:))

Wish we were further north! Tired of all the sun and heat down here! We'll be in Michigan in September. Can't wait! Hope the Wilson works for you well on the road...We'd like to get one but are hesitant to drill new holes! :-)

Jeannie... no holes drilled! It's just an antenna on a suction cup you put on the window... either outside or inside. (see pic in the blog) The base of the antenna is also a very strong magnet if you do want to stick it outside on a car rooft, etc. Our motorhome is fiberglass and aluminum so it wouldn't stick anyhow. So the 2 suction cup frame piece is perfect!

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About Us -

We sold our log home in the woods in 2012, and moved to the tiny community of Chilton, Wisconsin. We are happily married, and now grandparents of seven lovely little people. Jameson, Allegra, Chelsea, Mason, Clayton, Whitney and Claire! Our grown children are an important part of our lives, and they are now bringing children of their own into the world. What a wonderful treat that Grandchildren are!!!
We love to travel in our 38ft Safari Serengeti diesel pusher motohome, with our two Shetland Sheepdogs, Binney and Finnegan guiding our way. The motorhome really belongs to the dogs, we are just allowed to drive it places so they can get out and sniff!
We mostly boondock, utilizing our on board systems and solar panels on the roof. We don't need "No Stinkin' Hook-ups" We prefer to not be jammed in row after row of canned sardine tins like some campgrounds offer.
While on the road, I create my handwoven and knitted items. I am a weaver, spinner, and knitter of socks with an antique sockknitting machine. I sell my items online at www.kareninthewoods.com or in my Etsy store. http://kareninthewoods.etsy.com/
(Our Blog) RVing: The USA is our Big Backyard
http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com